By Alex Roberts
Enzo Maresca’s lads are 4-1 up after the trip to Stockholm, now the Swedes have to travel to Stamford Bridge, dreaming of pulling off an upset so unlikely, it could turn the fabric of football as we know it upside down.
Teenage dream
Throughout their European campaign, Maresca has taken the opportunity to dish out some debuts, most recently 16-year-old Reggie Walsh. It was so close to being a dream debut as he nearly scored with his only shot of the game.
The young midfielder followed in the footsteps of more established wonderkids Tyrique George and Josh Acheampong, who have both heavily featured in the tournament, becoming Chelsea’s third youngest player ever.
There are 12 other academy stars in Chelsea’s squad and with one eye on qualification for next season’s Champions League, they will doubtless be licking their lips at the chance to make an impression.
Not that Isak
Djurgården didn’t have much to celebrate, if anything, after the first leg but one player gave them a very small glimmer of hope. Isak Alemayehu Mulugeta scored their only goal, although his overall performance did himself and his side proud.
Replacing Santeri Haarala in the 63rd minute, Mulugeta sprung into life, scoring five minutes after running onto the pitch. Unfortunately for the 18-year-old and his teammates, Nicolas Jackson scored in-between his introduction and goal to effectively kill off the tie.
He only played 27 minutes and with a 100% pass accuracy rate, 3/3 ground duels won, and two touches in the opposition box, he’ll probably play more this time around.
Jadon Sancho loves the Conference League
Sancho’s future at Chelsea is up in the air. The £25 million obligation to buy in his loan contract can be bought out for a fee of £5 million. It’s not exactly a vote of confidence from the West London club.
After an impressive start that saw the winger assist in his first three games at Chelsea, he dropped off a little. Now, in the Conference League, he’s starting to re-discover the form that had fans so excited.
His last four goal contributions have come in the tournament, including the opener in the first leg against the Swedes. If nothing else, showing what his capable of here may put Sancho on the radar of other potential suitors this summer.
Form guide
Chelsea are reaching the end of their season, while Djurgården have only just started theirs. Buoyed by a crucially important win over newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool, Maresca’s side are finding form at the right time with four wins from their last five games.
Djurgården, on the other hand, are yet to get going domestically. With two wins, two draws, two defeats and three goals scored in their opening six games in the Allsvenskan, they’re all the way down in 11th.
Prediction
We hate to rule teams out here at FotMob but it really is hard to look beyond Chelsea for this one. We’re going to go with a 3-0 win for the home side.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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